Minor fender bender yesterday, my own fault. A few minor scrapes here and there. One shoulder is a bit sore, and the ribs are tight on the same side, but all in all I could have come out much worse. Didn’t hit my head, and no concussion thankfully. Bike just needs a new derailleur hanger but its not the one I race on so I’m not worried there.
I’m racing Musselman 70.3 this weekend, for what was planned as my A race. For those who have had a crash in the week leading up to a race, how did it go? Any tips I should be looking out for?
I can’t decide if I want to go for an easy run today to try to loosen everything up (and maybe see if there are some other trouble spots), or do nothing for a few days. For it being the day after, I’m feeling mostly ok, but that’s always going to be different than race pace for 4 and a half hours.
A friend of mine did the same thing on his shake out ride the day before his Ironman. He still PRd even with some road rash. He had concerns about his body as well..
I crashed before amateur ITU worlds in Gold Coast back in the dark ages. Hit a patch or sand and went down. The worst part was a broke my front derailleur bar end shifter. I was able to shift into the big chainring and was fine after the start of the race. Luckily it was a flat course and barely changed gears.
Honestly once you get going you won’t even notice. Everything will loosen up and you’ll feel fine.
I had a crash in a criterium and then raced a road race the next day. It ended up being one of my best road races. From prior crashes and from following grand tours, it seems like the worst days are days 3-4 when the inflammation is highest. If you’re feeling okay and it was me I’d be tempted to do whatever I already had planned for the week, and take extra care to stretch and do other things that reduce inflammation. And obviously back off the plan if you’re experiencing any discomfort beyond normal soreness and burn from the road rash.
Thanks all. Good to hear that things went well enough, and I suspect (hope) that I have enough time to let everything settle before I need to push hard on the weekend.
If you’re looking for more motivation, track down Chrissie Wellington’s book, “A Life Without Limits”. She crashed a few days out from Kona, batched up all over. She did alright in the race.